I got Miquon a couple of weeks ago. Since DS is in pre-K at a school, I have just done it a couple of times in the afternoon or evenings. The first two times, we just played with the C-Rods and did some of the games and suggestions in the Lab Notes and 1st grade diary. Last night, we got the worksheets out. I tore out about 6 or 7 worksheets so he would have some choice. He did them all and was begging for more. He thought it was so fun to figure things out mostly on his own. I finally had to make him go to bed! He has learned so much in such a short time. I just love the way it is set up so that kids feel like they are making these discoveries on their own. I love the lightbulb moments! I have to admit I was a little terrified when I got the materials. I am new to this so scripted seems better suited in my situation. I have McRuffy Color Math for K that we are going to start when we officially start HSing (which I am also excited about). However, once I got past my fears and read some of their materials, it actually felt natural just to jump in with Miquon. DS loved it and I think this is going to be a major part of our math program!
Awesome that you found something that your ds loves! My son is 3 and I'm still looking at what I'm going to use next year when we start a lil more formal stuff. I'll definately add that to my list of products to check out though! Good luck in your homeschooling and God Bless!
Congrats to you! Math was the one I struggled with most. I had a really hard time settling on something that taught what I wanted the way I wanted. Kudos to you for being ahead of the game!!
We went through several things before deciding on Miquon. We love it! It'll ebb and flow with how hard or easy it is, but just keep at it. It's easy to do 7 pages one day and maybe only 1/2 page the next. Some have more content than others, and some are harder than others. Do what works.
I can see how that would be the case. We were obviously starting off with some of the easier stuff that I thought he could handle. I am just so amazed at how quickly he was getting major math concepts. It just seemed so obvious to him by using the rods. Do you do the program in the order it is in the books or do you tear out various pages to change things up? I was horrified at the thought of tearing out pages, but it is a lot of fun that way. It's great to see that it is working for someone who has used it for awhile!
I'm a fan od Miquon, also. My kids were a little older. My dd struggles with new math concepts. We went straight through in order, but you can do it however you want. They loved it and completed the 3 yr. program in 1 1/2. Of course. Completing it that quickly with older kids, we didn't do as much exploring as they suggest. I agree with Miquons philosophy. It's more important for kids to understand the concepts then to memorize the math facts.
We used miquon successfully up to book 5, then in kinda falls apart. We loved it for the first 4 books. Also, don't rely on it as your sole program as they get older - it never teaches how to borrow and carry, and there are some instances where that is necessary. I have a link about our hassles with Miquon here: familyd.50megs.com under one of the Homeschool confidential pages.
I had full intentions of tearing out sections at a time and working on various topics, but he wanted to go straight through the books. I do tear them out, but we're doing them pretty well in order.
